Broken Hearts
by Pinecones
Summary: She wanted to hate you, but she was too selfless to. You broke her trust and wanted it back, but she wanted to forget you.— A story where Nico and Maki were in a relationship but their relationship becomes strained over Maki's actions.
1. Chapter 1

You knew this was wrong, yet you felt bad for her. She was criticized most of the time by many people, many asking why she was the leader of muse, and why couldn't it be someone more mature, such as Eli or Umi. The pressure given from Umi did not help either. Honoka was to act as a role model to others, eat healthy, act like a lady, get good grades while at the same time manage muse, Maki thought.

One day, while you two were alone in the clubroom, Honoka asked if she could kiss you, just to see what it felt like. You knew that you were in a relationship with Nico, yet you said yes without thinking. And here she was on top of you, hands pinning your arms down on the table as her head hovered over you.

"Hey, this is okay right?" Honoka asked you once again for reassurance.

"It's fine... J-just hurry up and do it already." You looked away from her.

 _Nico-chan would understand._ You thought to yourself.

Honoka went in and pressed her lips against yours for a mere few seconds before she parts your lips. You grasp her sleeve, she takes this as a signal for "more." As she inches closer to you, you try to imagine it's Nico on top of you. But it's not. And that makes you feel uncomfortable. You were about to stop this until you heard a creak from the door.

The doorknob squeaks, and three people walk in. Eli first, followed by Nozomi who were in the middle of a conversation. They take a glance at the scene, and pause.

"Why aren't you going in?" Nico pushes through the two, only to catch the indecent sight of Honoka on top of you. Bras unclasped, shirts open.

Nico pauses for a good five seconds before she bolts out of the room. You push Honoka off, buttoning your shirt quickly, wanting to run out of the room before Nozomi and Eli stop you. Nozomi motions Eli to run after Nico and Honoka to leave the room while you and Nozomi are the only ones left.

You clench your fists, wanting to get out of this room, aware that Nozomi was the last person you wanted to talk to in this situation. An awkward pause enfolds as Nozomi crosses her arms, with an unpleased look directed towards you.

"Let me go after her." You speak up after the uncomfortable silence.

"Maki-chan. Don't you think you've caused enough damage?"

"It wasn't as if I was trying to hurt her."

"Then what was that?"

"I... you won't understand." Your face turns away from Nozomi, looking at a poster of Bibi on the wall.

"Maybe I don't. But you realize that what you did was wrong. Your "selfless" action was actually selfish. I know you feel bad for Honoka-chan but in the process you lost Nicocchi."

"I'll just apologize to her, she'll understand." You try to reason out your thoughts, hoping that what you say will actually happen.

"If you were going to hurt her, you might as well have not gone out with her in the first place, don't you think?"

You glare at Nozomi, balling up your knuckles, wanting to punch something- anything would be fine, but you shouldn't lose your temper in front of Nozomi, out of all people. "It really isn't your business. I don't get you." You mumble incoherently.

"It is my business. Nicocchi is one of my dearest friends. For you to do something like that... if I were Nicocchi, I wouldn't even want to see your face." Nozomi's face flashed a hinge of sadness and betrayal before turning her back towards you and walking out the door.

* * *

You end up finding out where Nico, Eli, and Honoka were. They were inside the music room where you would always sing for Nico. Or, where you _used_ to sing for Nico.

Nico sat at the bench at the side of the room, with Eli on one side comforting her and Honoka on her knees in front of Nico. Nico's face was in shock, there weren't tears, but an enraged expression on her face.

"Nico-chan... I'm really sorry. I didn't know you guys were together. No one ever told me." Honoka held her head low, accepting any kind of punishment Nico would give.

"Honoka, for the last time, it's fine. If you really didn't know, then it's not your fault. Besides, the only ones who knew were Eli and Nozomi. Maybe if our relationship was made more public, maybe things wouldn't end up like this." The last sentence of Nico was said more faintly than her usual voice. You remember telling Nico at the start of your relationship with her that you wanted to keep it a secret.

— _"I'd like it if we could keep our relationship private. Only to a few people." You remind Nico._

 _"Oh.. alright. Why though?"_

 _"It just..." You try to quickly think up of an excuse. "It might be better for us. You being a super idol and me becoming a doctor." You look away from Nico, hoping she would go along with it._

 _"I see. That's fine. As long as we're the only ones with each other, promise?" Nico smiled at you._

 _You smiled back without saying a word._ —

As Eli and Honoka tried comforting Nico, you left the room and hoped that everything that happened today was a dream, and that you were still in a healthy relationship with Nico, but that wasn't possible anymore.

* * *

The day after that, everyone gathered in the clubroom as usual after classes have ended. Nico doesn't even look at you anymore. She ignores your texts, your comments, and everything about you.

Every meeting and practice has been as if nothing happened. Except for the fact that Nico acts if you were never there so you two never banter anymore. The rest of muse has been updated on the situation. Rin and Hanayo look at you with pity, but they know that your actions were inexcusable.

One day, you decide to ditch class and head to the clubroom, knowing that Nico had a spare class after lunch and usually hangs around there. You stand before the room, seeing Nico's petite figure sitting at the computer desk, browsing idol groups videos and making note of what could be improved for muse. You take a deep breath and turn the doorknob slowly, making your way in once the door was entirely open.

Nico's body pauses, using the reflection of the window frame to see that you've entered. She resumes watching idol groups, her eyes hollow and empty.

You sit down at your usual spot and take a book out to read. The mood was full of discomfort and awkwardness. You want to speak to her, to hear her voice directed at you like before, but you knew that there was a growing rift between the two of you each day that passes. You want something to happen, but nothing happens. She doesn't question why you're here, and acts as if you weren't sitting there. Half an hour passes, and she decides to make her way out the door. You quickly try to calculate what to say before she heads out, hoping that you could get some message across to her but your brain malfunctions and you end up saying something rash.

"By the way you're acting, it seems like you never really cared about what happened, or us?" You blurt out unconsciously. These weren't the words you wanted to say. You could've said something nicer, an apology would have worked, bu these were the only words you could think of at the moment.

Nico pauses for a second. She turns around, with piercing eyes at you. You could feel her about to yell at you, or punch you, just anything would be okay, but she takes a few seconds to calm herself down, before saying with a sad smile on her face, "Don't fuck with me, hypocrite." Her words strike you, as if they were burning your insides. Your face falls, the mood turns sour, and you want to glare her down, but you know deep down that she's right.

She makes her way out the door and shuts it, so you can't just follow her out the door. You bring a hand up to hold your head, hating how you've become so unused to this side of Nico and how everything you do or say seems to make the gap between you and her even wider now.

The door opens again, you snap your head towards it, hoping that it was Nico who came back, but it was just Honoka.

"Maki-chan, I'm sorry." Honoka begins to talk.

"It's fine. Like Nico-chan said, it's not your fault. You didn't know."

"I know... I wish you could've told me before hand. Is there a reason why you didn't say anything? I know you're not the type to forget that you're in a relationship."

"There wasn't any reason. It was just in the heat of the moment. Look, you've done a lot for me, if it weren't for you I wouldn't have ever met Nico-chan. And I also... felt bad for you."

Honoka winced a bit before understanding the meaning in your words. "Well, I wouldn't blame you. You were simply helping me, as a friend right? Thanks Maki-chan but you really didn't have to go all that way for me. I've got the others. And cheer up okay! Fight-O!" Honoka gave an apologetic smile before patting me on the head.

In that sudden moment, Nico was standing in the middle of the doorway, unhappy at the sight she was seeing. She quickly walked over to where she was sitting and grabbed her bag, making her way out.

"Nico-chan! Wait. This isn't what it looks like." You quickly retort as her back faces towards you.

As she hears your voice, she runs away from you. You decide that it's time to face your fears and you start to run after her, cursing how she was so fast for such a tiny figure. After a few hundred meters of running, you two end up in the middle of a park. Her stamina drops and her speed slows down, while luckily you catch up to her and take a good grasp of her shoulders.

"Let go." Nico sharply hisses. Her body is shaking, and you see drops of tears hitting the floor from Nico's face.

"I'm sorry okay! Talk to me, Nico-chan, please." You beg for her forgiveness.

"What do you want me to say? That I detest you for cheating on me? That everyday I want to just burst out of the room during club activities because I can't stand to see your face? That I gave you everything and you half-assed it by betraying me? I have nothing left to say to you. You're dead to me Nishikino Maki. I can forgive Honoka because she had no knowledge of us, but I honestly can't forgive you. You knew I had a hard time trusting people yet you broke my trust. Please, if you ever really loved me, you would let me go." Nico began to break down, hitting my chest with every little ounce of energy she had left. She wanted to hate you, but you knew that she was too selfless to.

You knew that she was consumed with rage, but you still brought her face up to match yours. In a split second, you forced a kiss on her, hoping that she could calm down and properly talk to you. At first, she tried resisting the kiss, hitting you and trying to get off of you. But she gradually, let you kiss her, while not reciprocating any of it.

Once your lips parted her, she slapped you hard on the cheek, her eyes brimming with tears once more. "Don't you dare kiss me." Your face began to hurt, a lot. This was going to leave a bruise for a few days but it didn't matter. As you saw her face, red with anger and sadness, your eyes too began to water.

You bring your hands up to your eyes, hiding your tears from her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I wanted to be with you because I loved you, and only you. Honoka and I were never a thing. It was a one time kiss, and I only let her kiss me because I felt bad for her and I just-" You try to continue on but are interrupted halfway.

"So you decided to forget about me? How could you even do that." Nico cut you off, with insecurity flashing all over her eyes.

"I didn't forget. I never did. I thought you'd understand. I don't expect you to forgive me, but I want you to at least hear me out." You look at her directly, raising your arms and brushing your fingers along her face.

She removes your hands swiftly from her face as if you were poisonous to her. "Don't touch me." Nico scowls. "Don't get near me ever again, I don't want to see your face outside of school-related activities ever. And don't you dare cut class to see me. I'll just lock the door from now on if you dare to do that again." She walks away from you and towards the school.

Your heart drops as you watch her leave you, her footsteps drowning out the farther away she is from you. You drop down to your knees, feeling weak in the legs, and let out every tear you had in your heart.


	2. Chapter 2

Club activities are "normal", like nothing had ever happened between you and Nico. Except for the fact that she keeps pretending that you're not present and talks to everyone, but you. You notice how close she has been getting to Kotori. A wary look appears on your face and although you want to pull the two away from each other, Kotori wasn't someone who meant any harm, and she had done nothing wrong. She in fact, has helped you a lot, and you could say she was usually a mediator between your bantering with Nico.

You miss her dearly, and you know you messed up. You're not sure what to do other than to watch over her during practice. You've never felt so useless in this way.

Nico doesn't stretch with you during practice anymore. She goes to Nozomi, or Eli, anyone but you. One day, while Nico is stretching with Eli, Umi suddenly approaches you.

"Maki, I trust that you being on bad terms with Nico will NOT affect our next live." Umi narrows her eyes at me.

"I guess? What are you trying to say." You look at Umi with an annoyed look, feeling tired of people bring up your disastrous relationship with Nico.

"Well, Eli and I have decided to put everyone into subgroups for the next live." Umi pauses for a second. You have a bad feeling about this. She continues on, "That includes you and Nico doing a duet together."

"You're kidding." You straighten up, looking Umi straight in the eye. "You know this isn't a good idea."

"Maki." Umi widens her eyes and takes a step towards your direction. You could feel a dark aura emitting out of her. In the corner of your eye, you see Hanayo shriek once she takes one look at Umi.

"I-I refuse." You stutter yet bravely take a step back. You know that nothing good will come out of this, other than a good performance. Putting on a sulky face while twirling a hair in your finger, you restate your position, "I don't get you."

"I've wrote lyrics already and Eli has coordinated the dance. Everyone is already paired up into retrospective pairs." Umi takes another step towards you, hands hoisting your shoulders, making sure you wouldn't escape.

"Isn't there one person left out? I'll join that person. Nico-chan can go do her nico puri solo or whatever. Leave me out of this."

"Oh you mean Honoka? Don't worry. A-Rise called for Honoka to be a special guest for their upcoming live, so she's fine." Umi gave you another sly smile. You were set up.

"... Fine, just because it's for μ's." You finally give in, rolling your eyes.

* * *

BiBi meetings have become dull. It's mostly just Eli talking. You bring up some points and opinions but no one challenges you anymore. You've always anticipated Nico's argument against your ideas but she now stays silent or just simply doesn't care anymore. She just looks out the window and barely contributes to the group other than agreeing with whatever Eli says.

One day, you decide to try something different. You realize that it will take a lot of courage for you to muster up talking to her, but it might resolve your differences, right?

While Eli points to the whiteboard and talks about stage formations, you decide to speak up.

"How about we put Nico-chan in the center while Eli and I will stay in the back? That way, there's more emphasis on Nico-chan since she won't be stuck in the back." You say confidently, trying not to stutter or show any signs of sarcasm in your voice.

Eli deadpans and puts her marker down. She sees what this is about. On the other side, Nico shoots you an annoyed look. She also knows what this is about.

"I-" Nico looks as if she were about to say something snarky but takes a second to let her brain process what was happening. "Do whatever you want. As long as it's fine with Eli."

Eli nods at you, looking at Nico, then looking at you again. An awkward silence fills the room.

"Well, I have to go practice with Nozomi for our.. duet." Eli speaks up, slowly blushing. "I'll leave you two alone in this room then?" She dashes out of the room.

The silence resumes, neither Nico nor you uttered a sound to each other. After a minute passed, Nico packed her bags and started to make her way out of the room.

You speak up, "Are we not going to practice for our stage?"

"Umi already sent me the whole song. I can memorize my lines and get Eli to help me with the choreography." Nico's tone lowers.

"Shouldn't we do this together? This isn't a one man decision." Your voice begins to crack.

"I don't think you're in any position to talk about me single-handedly doing things myself." Nico gives you an empty look.

You pause. She was right. Every single word she said was right. But you wanted to at least do something together, you were desperate. "Look, this is about μ's, you want to make this performance the best it can be right? Personal issues aside, can't we work on this together?" You plead.

Nico doesn't say anything. She puts her bags down and sits at the head of the table. "Fine. If this is for μ's, it's fine."

You sigh, finally glad that she's agreed to do something with you.

The rest of the hour is spent talking about how the stage would go and how you two would perform the song. The two of you chat normally, and although the topic of conversation is spent on your duet with her, the mood was friendly. By the end of the hour, your head feels tired, yet you haven't feel this energized since that day. A smile small creeps onto your face.

You look at Nico, who's resting her head on the table, with a sleepy, yet pleased look on her face. Your body relaxes upon seeing Nico, and you feel a little better that somehow, hopefully your relationship with Nico has healed a bit.

* * *

The live was a success. Many people cheered for your duet with Nico, both of you feeling like you've done a good job. Many of the members: Rin, Hanayo, Honoka, and Eli applauded you. Even Umi praised you, saying that it was a good job that you've managed to get through to her.

Even though Nico has resumed talking to you under professional terms, "for the sake of μ's" as she calls it, she still doesn't talk to you outside of club activities. You want to break that barrier and inch your way back into her heart again, but you don't know how. All you can do is just stare at her in the clubroom while she cheerfully converses to the other members about things that you were forbidden to talk to her about, remembering the words she said to you before.

You're jealous. As much as you didn't want to admit it, seeing her with other people made you jealous, seeing her smile at others the way she used to smile at you made your heart hurt.

You try to make it up to her little by little, but you don't know how. You're too sheltered and you don't have a single idea what you can do to get her to start talking to you on friendly terms. You know that she wants to talk to you too, you could feel it, but she just didn't want to initiate things with you anymore. You don't blame her though.

* * *

A few days after, you overhear Nico and Kotori talking alone in the clubroom as you make your way to club activities.

"I'm glad you have some sort of understanding though. It's hard you know." You hear Nico's voice faintly from the room.

"Of course. I don't mind hearing you out. It must have been hard for you, these past few weeks." Kotori's voice chimes in. Another wave of guilt overcomes you.

"Thanks, Kotori. Sometimes I wonder why I didn't date you in the first place. You're waaaay too good for me." Nico chuckles. Your heart crumbles a bit. You watch Nico joke around as she leans back into her chair and crosses her legs in what seemed like harmless flirting to you.

"Geeeez Nico-chan, we both know why."

"Ooh tell me the reason then~" Nico laughs as she leans her head forward, challenging Kotori who's seated beside Nico.

"Hmm, it's because-" Kotori starts off, only you can't hear what she says because a loud voice from behind distracts you.

"HEEEEY why're you standing there?!" Rin screams and pounces on you causing you to hit your head against the door while Hanayo quickly rushes over to remove Rin from you, ruining every bit of anticipation you had. You facepalm and it takes every bit of your sanity to not strangle Rin.

You hear Kotori and Nico stop talking, aware that you were behind listening on them. Rin completely ruins the mood, and following shortly behind her is Honoka who opens the door, screaming something about bread while Rin runs after her screaming about food along with Honoka.

Kotori greets you with an apprehensive gaze while Nico looks at you agitated. You want to clarify yourself, but you're not sure if that would make things better.

Once everyone gathers in the room for a short meeting, a short meeting is held before Umi dismisses everyone to get changed and ready for practice on the rooftop. You stand in the corner of the clubroom, purposely changing slowly to see if you could emit any reaction out of Nico, sitting in her chair looking obviously unhappy. Her eyes bore into you, making you wonder if you should hurry up and leave.

Once everyone leaves, Nico breaks the silence. "You said you wouldn't do this anymore. And that includes spying." Nico reprimands you.

"I didn't mean to? It was a coincidence." You manage to get the words out of your mouth.

"How long were you standing there for."

"Just a few minutes... I didn't want to interrupt your conversation with Kotori by barging in, that's all." _Idiot. Is that all you can think of?_ You think to yourself

"If that's what you say." Nico begrudgingly agrees with you before she stands up to leave for practice.

You want to stop her. This is the only time you have alone with her without being interrupted by any of the other members. You have so many things you want to say to her, yet you don't know what to say first.

"Can we start over?" You let out.

Nico looks at you strangely. You can feel the hesitation in her eyes, there was doubt written all over her face as she searches your eyes for any sign of distrust or sarcasm.

"What are you talking about?" She asks in a serious tone.

"Is it okay for us to go back to what we once were?" You lower your head, unable to look her in the eyes.

"No." Nico turned her back towards me. "We aren't even friends and yet you try to ask that?"

"I- I just wanted to-"

"What? Get back with me so you can break my heart again by... oh I don't know cheating on me with someone different this time?" Her words were harsh, they stung you, hard. Nico swiftly turns around, her eyes beginning to water as she uses a hand to suppress any tears from coming out.

"That's not it!" You retort. "I didn't mean to do that! Please, believe me."

"Don't joke around Maki." She sighs.

"W-why do you think I'm joking." You try to hold yourself together for her.

"Because you treat me as if I'm a joke." A sad smile is plastered on her face as tears drop on the table.

You're speechless. That wasn't it. This wasn't how you wanted things to go. You wanted to at least make up as friends, at the bare minimum. You didn't want to make her cry again.

You walk towards her, you watch her try to contain herself, but is unable to. There was so much guilt consumed in your heart. You're upset, not at her, but at yourself. You wish you could do something to ease her pain, you wish you could make it up to her and tell her that she's been the only thing on her mind. You wish you could tell her that she was never a joke.

You grab her shoulders and push yourself towards her, holding her in a tight embrace. Immediately, she tries hitting you, punching whatever she can feel, as long as it gets through to you. It hurts a bit, but it didn't matter. You let her hit you until she's tired of it and sees that you won't let go. The two of you stay that way for a good few minutes. She slowly wraps her arms around you too after a while; your heart pounds and your face begins to heat up.

"Don't misunderstand." Nico says, "It doesn't mean anything." You notice her ears are a bit red. Her arms tighten around your waist.

"I understand." You smile, while repositioning yourself so that your head is on top of hers.

Nico is the first one to break herself off your arms. You can't help but feel a bit lonely once she lets go, but you knew not to push her limit and go overboard.

"Does this mean we're friends again?" You carefully ask.

"We'll see about that." Nico curtly shoots back with a piercing gaze as she leaves the room promptly.

You lean back against the table with a satisfied look on your face. You knew you were going to have a good sleep for once.


	3. Chapter 3

Nico begins to warm up a bit towards you again. Although she is no longer cold and bitter, she still maintains a reasonable distance from you.

Two months before school is finished for the year, Honoka announces that she wants to have another overnight party somewhere. Everyone looks at you with _that_ look on their faces. You sigh, giving them permission to have another weekend vacation at your penthouse.

* * *

The night before you leave for another your trip tomorrow, you sit on your bed, thinking of ways to talk to Nico, or figure out some plot that will get you two to talk like before. It's a matter of time before she leaves you behind while she graduates and moves on with her life. You don't want to think about it, but you couldn't help it. It was as if time kept passing by quickly without ever slowing down.

And that thought made you sad. You didn't want to see her go, but you want her to be happy and do what she's prepared the first 17 years of her life for.

"Number one idol huh." You say to yourself, as you flop on your bed, unwilling to get up and grab your phone so you could talk things over with her right now. A part of you is afraid to say something, but the other part wants to hear her voice.

You do it anyways. Or planned to. You end up getting out of your bed and head over to the table where your phone is. You check your lock screen. _0 messages_. It wasn't a surprise. You miss how she would always text you, and now she never messages you anymore. Yet you don't blame her.

You move back to your bed, head covered by your pillow. _It really is lonely._ You think to yourself. You try to shake the thoughts off, unwilling to be attacked by negative feelings.

* * *

"So big..." Everyone glances at your other penthouse while you twirl your hair in one hand.

"It's nothing really..." You say for the thousandth time.

While everyone looks amazed at the wonders of your house, you notice Nico glaring you down.

"W-what?" You ask, taking a step back.

"NOTHING." She turns away, envy written all over her face.

* * *

"Hide and seek!" Rin exclaims once everyone unpacks their bags and head outside.

"Rin, I don't know my way around this area well enough yet." You grimace, hoping she would snap out of the idea.

"Party poooooper. We oughta explore nya!" Rin circles around you, hoping to ease your tension.

You push Rin out of the way. "I refuse. No one said you could do whatever you want." You roll your eyes at Rin.

"I refuse." Rin mocks you while grabbing your hat and putting it on herself.

Nico smirks at you, Eli turns her face away so you don't see her laugh, Nozomi has her hands on her hips, enjoying the sight. You turn red out of embarrassment.

"Rin, I will punch you, don't provoke me." You glare at her taking a step forward.

"Maki. Rin. I believe we didn't come here to have fun and play." Umi voices out, looking at you and Rin with a disappointed look.

"I never said I wanted to play?!" You yell back at Umi.

"I'm it for hide and seek! One, two, three..." Nozomi interrupted us with a smile as she closed her eyes and began to count.

Everyone runs except for you, Umi and Eli who all look at each other with a confused look.

"Nozomi. Really?" Eli looks at Nozomi, unimpressed.

"Elicchi if you don't run, you'll be punished by me first, unless... that's what you wanted in the first place." Nozomi snickers with a hand over her mouth.

"Nozomi!" Eli yells at her.

You already know what's going to happen if you stay there for any longer. You decide that it's best to just go along with Nozomi's antics as you'd rather not stay there to throw up at the sight of Nozomi and Eli flirting.

* * *

As much as you hate running, you decided to run only because the last person you wanted to be caught by was Nozomi.

You reach a playground area and look for a place to hide. You see that there's a tunnel in which you could hide yourself in. You groan, wondering how you ended up going along with Nozomi's games once again. You crawl through a tunnel with holes, hoping you could reach a spot where there was room to move and breathe. You keep going until you hit someone hard on your head which seems to be another person's head.

"Uuueh? Hey watch where you're going..." You call out, taking a step back and rubbing your head.

"Excuse you, I've been here all along." A voice calls back. You recognize this as Nico's voice. Nico crawls towards you, cocking her head to the side, as if she were going to fight you.

Your heart beats fast, and you rub the back of your neck hoping to cool yourself down from the extremely close proximity between you and Nico.

"Funny seeing you here." You attempt to sit down after crouching for a few minutes straight. _You're an idiot, that's all you can say?_ You think to yourself, beating yourself up internally.

Another awkward silence ensues.

"ANYWAYS, it's so cramped in here, there's almost no room for my legs." Nico complains, as she tries standing up, she hits her head on some plastic roof of the tunnel. "Owww, I thought I was tiny enough to stretch a bit..."

"Hey don't hurt yourself, it's only for a short period of time we have to stay like this." Your hand reaches out to pat Nico's head, but you stop yourself once she sees your hand and looks at you funny. You pull your hand back quickly and look away.

You want to hold onto her, you want to grasp her before she goes far away, and you're too scared to. But those insecurities shouldn't matter, at least at this moment, when this might be the only time you get to privately talk to her during the trip.

"Nico-chan..." You call out.

"Don't..." Nico says in a whisper.

Your hand reaches out to grabs hers. As she turns her body away from yours, you use your other hand to hug her from behind. She stops. You also pause.

"You okay? You're really warm." Nico's face turns around, facing you.

Your hands are still interlaced with hers. You both blush from the physical contact. After all, it has been a while since you two have held each other in this way.

You rest your head on her shoulder, enjoying how you can feel her pulse and warmth through her body. She doesn't touch you, but lets you touch her without any complaint.

"Let's stay like this for a while, yeah?" You ask her, with a pleading look in her eyes.

She nods stubbornly, after all, you two were trapped. Doing something was better than nothing happening.

You hold her tight, embraced by each other's warmth. Your hands are brought to her waist, pulling yourself closer to her. About 10 minutes have passed and Nozomi still hasn't found you yet. You wonder if this was a set-up by Rin, Honoka and Nozomi for you to be honest about your feelings.

You examine all the possible things you could talk to her about. You realize however that there was so much you wanted to say to her and there isn't enough time to say everything. There was one certain thing lingering in your mind though. And it was that you wanted her back for real this time. As you calculate your thoughts and plan what you were going to say in your head, Nico looks up at you with a questionable look. It was time to tell her.

"If I told you that I'm still in love with you, would you give me a second chance?" You take Nico's hand and hold it tightly so she won't let go.

"M-Maki, what's with this all of a sudden?" Nico looks at you for a second before she replies.

"I was thinking about how graduation is coming up soon. And I'm scared of what'll come after that." You start off on a strong front, clutching her rightly. "I've been trying my best not to think about this but I can't help it. I want you to be happy, I really do. But at the same time I want to be with you, and that confuses me because I don't know if you feel the same as I do." You continue on, squeezing her hand, as you move your face closer to hers. You try to suppress any tears from coming out, biting your lip and choking back a voice that sounds like you're about to cry.

It took Nico a minute to process what you had said and for her to think up of a response.

Nico sighs and leans back on you. "Honestly speaking. I was really disappointed and upset when you did went behind my back. I already knew that our relationship wasn't steady at that point. Before that incident, I had already felt like I wasn't good enough for you, and I'm sorry that I didn't try hard enough to fix us at that point. And for that to happen, I just snapped, yet I blamed you for everything while it was partly my fault too. Even though what you did was inexcusable, I just felt like... if I were better to you, maybe we wouldn't have gone through that." Her voice falters at the end, as her body tenses up much more than before.

"No, don't say that. You don't need to blame yourself. You're perfect enough already. I was an idiot, a big one, to hurt you." Your face nuzzles her neck, hoping you could get across the message, _I'm sorry._

"Can you give me some time? I want things to be slow this time around." Nico says.

"I'll give you all the time in the world it takes for you to trust me again." You say confidently, smiling at her.

The two of you stay like that for a while until your phone buzzes in your pocket. A message flashes on the screen from Eli, ' _Please come back to the house. It's been 2 hours since the game has ended. Everyone's beginning to starve.'_

"What is it?" Nico asks.

"We should get back to the house, everyone's starving." You grimace, partly because your alone time with Nico has now ended, and also you don't want to go into a house full of starving members, more notably, Hanayo, Honoka, and Rin.

The two of you walk back to your penthouse. Nico slips her hand into yours. You look at her flabbergasted.

"W-what?" Nico says to you, as her cheeks are reddening.

"Nothing. I'm just... really happy." You laugh excitedly, using your other hand to hide your blushing face.

"Tsundere." Nico mumbles with a smirk plastered on her face.

"Stop that!" You try to walk ahead of her, only to realize that your hands are still connected, dragging her along with you.

Although you're embarrassed for a split second, you realize that it's okay. Because she's here with you, and nothing could ruin this precious moment.


	4. Chapter 4

""I need your help." You bow down towards Nozomi and Eli a full 90 degrees.

"My my, what a sight." Nozomi smiled with an amused look, quickly pulling out her camcorder out of her desk. "Quick, Elicchi take a picture before she stands back up."

"STOP. THAT." You glare at Nozomi, who's already turning on the power button, ready to record everything you say.

You take the camcorder and turn it off while sighing loudly, hoping Nozomi could get the message that you weren't some clown ready to entertain her.

"Anyways, help me get Nico-chan back." You look at the two third-years pleadingly.

"So BiBi could be a gay mess again?" Eli mumbled under her breath, shuddering at the thoughts of more third-wheeling within sub-unit meetings.

"What?" You whip your head at Eli.

"Nothing."

Nozomi flashes her tarot cards out of her boob and brings them up to her face, staring intensely at them. After a few minutes, she shoots a pleased look at them. "I have good news Maki-chan."

"What is it?" You try to hide the excited tone in your voice. Nozomi's cards were always accurate, no matter how much you would never admit it to the older girl.

"Elicchi and I will have a magnificent weekend together." Nozomi winked at Eli, whose face is already turning bright red.

"N-Nozomi!" Eli slammed her hands on the desk.

"You guys really aren't any help. I don't get you." You groan, making your way out of the room.

"Maki-chan!" You blink for one second and see Nozomi standing right in front of you, her hands outstretched, preventing you from leaving. She leans closely into your ear and whispers, "Pursue, that's what the cards told me. Don't be afraid to show off your charm."

* * *

"What are these?" Nico glances at you suspiciously as you stick your hand out, with two tickets in your hand. You hold your breath, hoping she would say yes.

"Tickets." You say bluntly.

"Well obviously. I mean what's it for..."

"There's this new exhibit opening up, do you wanna go with me?"

"Erm... I'm busy on Saturday." Nico waves at you funnily as she rejects your offer.

"Is that so..." You smile awkwardly.

The clubroom door opens and Kotori and Umi walk in.

"Nico-chan, my boss said she'll let me off on Saturday, looks like we can go." Kotori beams at Nico whom the latter looks excited for whatever is happening on Saturday. You notice Umi looking off to the side, with a disgruntled look on her face. Could she be in the same position you're in? It was a possibility, which meant that you and her had much more in common that you thought.

Once Nico and Kotori are fully engaged in their conversation, you send a signal to Umi to come over to your side so you wouldn't seem suspicious. She walks over and greets you.

"Yes Maki?" Umi asks you while still keeping a close eye on Kotori.

"Are you doing anything this Saturday?"

"Not that I know of."

"Should we follow them." Your voice lowers, in both sound and tone, making sure that only Umi could hear your voice.

She snaps her head at you and her brow furrows.

"You understand that you're invading their privacy, Maki." Umi reprimands you in a quiet tone.

"But part of you wants to see what they're up to, am I right?"

"What?"

"Don't you want to make sure they aren't doing anything..." You gulp, hating to use this against Umi. "Impure?"

Umi splutters, her face begins to redden. "D-Don't say that! Kotori would n-never do something like that, let alone with Nico, who is a responsible elder sister of 3 children and our club president."

You realize Umi's stiff as a board and denser than a rock and trying to get your message across at the moment would take ages and divert unnecessary attention to you. You motion her to go outside, making sure Nico and Kotori don't notice anything, which luckily they don't since they're still heavily engaged in their conversation.

"You're in love with Kotori, aren't you?" You say once you two reach the music room.

Umi is stunned, unable to say anything to deny it or accept it. She simply stares at you, with her mouth wide open. You nod at her, smiling compassionately.

"Hey, if you help me, there's a good possibility that you'll be alone with Kotori. And I'll be alone with Nico. Then there's that. Everyone will be happy." You place a hand on Umi's shoulder. "If you really don't want to do it, I won't force you."

Umi simply gulps. After a minute of silence, she looks at your eyes with determination. "Okay. I'll help you, only because it benefits me as well."

* * *

It's 8:00AM, you're awakened by Umi's repetitive calling, eventually causing you to answer the phone and get out of bed.

"Get up, I'm outside your house." Umi swiftly says.

"Eeehhhhh?!" You hang up suddenly, taking a quick look at your window, only to see Umi outside with a backpack that seemed completely filled with stuff, sitting by your gate, legs crossed, blocking the pathway. The maids are seen circling your gates, trying to shoo Umi away who doesn't move an inch. You take a look at this sight and sigh heavily, knowing that it was going to be a long day for you.

* * *

"So where are we headed?" 9 _:10AM_. You look up from your watch and watch Umi who seems to be trekked towards a certain destination which she won't tell you. "Hello?"

"To the bird's nest." Umi replies promptly.

"What?" You look at Umi strangely. She doesn't reply.

The two of you stop at a house. Umi pulls you to the side of the house, awaiting something that she won't tell you. A voice from the inside of the house alarms you. It's high-pitched and sweet sounding. You recognize this voice but are unable to identify it's owner.

The front door opens, and you peek behind the corner and see a medium-sized ash hared girl step out. She's wearing a sundress that compliments her hair, and is carrying a mint green purse along. You glance at Umi, whose eyes are drooping out of her face, with a puppy-like expression on her face.

"Wake up, are we going to follow her or what." You shake her out of her trance and for a second you regret ever bringing her along, wishing you had brought along Eli, or Hanayo. She wakes up and begins to drag you along to trail Kotori.

You and Umi are mediocre at hiding yourselves from Kotori. In fact, you were just fine. Umi on the other hand seemed to be lagging behind and was bumping into a few people on the streets because she was too focused on Kotori to pay attention to her surroundings. Kotori seemed to sense that something was off, by the way she kept looking back and quickening her pace.

"Why are you being so obvious." You bluntly state.

"I'm not?"

"Yes you are, you keep drawing attention to us by literally running into people and creepily trailing her."

"M-Maki. That's not-" Umi was about to finish her sentence when she had tripped on a rock, causing her to gasp loudly and fall on a sidewalk.

Kotori quickly turned around, noticing you and Umi following her. She paused and looked at this situation funnily.

"Umm..."

"I'M FINE, I'M NOT INJURED, KEEP GOING YOUR WAY." Umi shouted, lying on the floor as she tried hiding her face behind her hands.

"Umi-chan... Maki-chan... what's the meaning of this?" Kotori walked towards you and Umi, suspicious of the situation. "... _Oh_ no... please don't tell me all of μ's is following me again..." She shivered, widening her eyes as she tried not to remember the time μ's stalked her when she had her part-time job as a maid.

"Don't worry, it's just the two of us." You say to her, noticing that she seemed to have calmed down a bit.

"I see. Well, why exactly are you following me then?" Kotori looked at Umi, then at you, then back at Umi.

"Well..." You look at Umi, hoping she could snap out of her trance and find something logical to say. Umi only looks up at the sky, as if she were waiting for some answer from the birds above. "Hurry up, say something." You hiss at Umi.

"Maki, this was your idea anyways. I don't even know why we're here."

You blush out of embarrassment. Umi had called you out on the spot. Kotori looks at you, with a glint in her eye that says that she knows what this is all about.

"Umi is here because she wants to tell you something." You blurt out.

No one says anything for five seconds. Yet you can already feel fumes coming out of an enraged Umi and your face heating up, making the air much hotter than it already was. You look at Kotori, the glint in her eyes dirop and her face is taken back in confusion.

"What." Both Umi and Kotori turn to you.

"Kotori! There you are. I was wondering why you weren't responding to my texts and I saw you from a distance so I decided to come over to spare you the walk." Nico runs up to Kotori and embraces her with a hug. You look at Nico, and avert your eyes out of jealousy.

Nico notices that you and Umi are present. "What are they doing here?" Nico directs at Kotori.

"I honestly... don't know myself." Kotori scratches her head questionably. "I guess... let's bring them along with us?"

"Uh-huh..." Nico replies, looking at you and Umi without a word.

* * *

Somehow, the four of you ended up at a fast food restaurant. You and Umi seated at one side, and Nico and Kotori seated at the other. The two are off talking about their lives while you and Umi just sit there, eating your meals, looking at them, hoping you could get their attention.

"Be right back, washroom." Kotori stands up and makes her way to the washroom.

Once Kotori isn't seen anymore, Nico locks eyes with you and Umi.

"So I wonder what brings you two here..." Nico facepalms.

"We were simply just hanging out." Umi reaffirms Nico, whom the latter quickly dismisses Umi by turning to you.

"Yup... _Maki._ What a coincidence. Looks like I'll be seeing you 6 times a week now huh." She sarcastically comments, then turning to Umi. "Umi. Hopefully you're not so dense that you realize that Kotori _had_ to use the washroom for a reason."

"What?"

"Go." Nico glares at Umi, massaging her temples. Umi stands up and heads towards where Kotori had gone, leaving you alone with Nico.

"You know, there's no need for you to be jealous. And there's really no need for you to be following me around the city. Kotori's not some assassin out to murder me."

"I know! I just..." Your words trail off, hoping she'd get the message.

"Huh?"

"You know." You look off to the side at a picture of a tomato hanging on the wall.

Nico looks at you, and smiles mischieviously. "I dooooon't know what you're talking about Maaakkii. If you won't be honest, I won't know what you want."

"I wanted to spend time with you, that's all." You exhale, breathing in and out as if you gave your last breath away.

"You really know how to overcomplicate things." Nico chuckles. "But since you were honest with your feelings, I guess I'll applaud you."

You were about to say something back, but you see Kotori heading back to your table, with Umi slowly trailing behind her. You notice Umi looking a bit flustered, while Kotori has an energized look on her face.

"Sorry Nico-chan, I have to do something with Umi-chan..." Kotori forced a smile while side-eyeing Umi who gave a nervous gulp. "I hope you understand."

Nico nodded at Kotori with a smile plastered on her face. You could see the veins popping out of both Nico and Kotori's heads.

As Kotori and Umi left the restaurant, Nico turns to you and glowers. "YOU. You owe me a date with Kotori."

"Heh? I.. It's not like I had this in mind. Don't blame it on me now. It was Umi's idea." You weren't exactly lying, Umi did have some part of this.

"Of course... NOT. Now you better make this date up to me or else you'll regret crashing super idol Nico-nii's date."

"Idiot. Why wouldn't I?" You gave a heartfelt smile, taking Nico's hand and leading her out into the streets of Akiba, ready to give her the time of her life.

* * *

 _Hello! Author here. Next chapter will be the last. Sorry for the delay, I've been having difficulties thinking about how to continue this story without dragging it or making it seem rushed. As well, I've been busy with school and work. So here's a vanilla/comedy-filled filler chapter. Maybe I'll post a side chapter about what went down with Kotori and Umi in this chapter if I have time or if many people request it, I'll see. Thanks for reading!_


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